Potential Hazard
by AboveSaber
Summary: Uzumaki Naruto; jinchuuriki, prodigy, and potential danger to Konoha. Naruto must overcome his hatred if he doesn't want to spiral down into darkness. Will his new teammates and teacher be able to lead the way to a better future? Or will he be consumed by his loathing and become the monster the villagers fear he already is?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: This isn't Kishimoto writing, sorry**

 **Prologue**

Cold, slit eyes stared down at the encampment comprised of just over 50 tents, guarded heavily. Rain was pouring, matting down his hair and dampening his overcoat but he paid it no mind.

' _Two minutes and the guard to the left will switch out_ ' the boy slowly drew out his Kunai and tapped the handle with his index figure methodically in wait.

Surely enough the guard left his post momentarily to grab the other sentry and hopefully get some sleep.

It was all he needed.

Keeping a steady pool of chakra in his legs, he leapt over the wall and into the now empty sentry tower. He quickly crouched down in a corner just in time to avoid the sight of the other guards on watch duty. He poked his head over the chest-high wall and surveyed the large encampment up close, taking in all the details within a few seconds.

Nodding to himself as he committed it to memory, he crouched back low and flipped his hood on. The black cloak he was wearing melted into the darkness leaving only his blue, predator-like eyes dimly glowing in the shadows.

After ten seconds of waiting, the guard finally climbed the ladder into the small room. He rested the spear onto the wall and leaned over the rails, not even pretending to be ready for potential enemies that could come. He paid for the lack of alertness.

Grabbing the man's mouth, the boy slit his throat cleanly and brought the guard down to the ground out of sight quickly. Muffled gurgles met the boy's ears as the man drowned in his own blood. Once the man's futile squirming subsided the blonde leapt down to the muddy ground as silently as he could.

Wiping the black metal off from the life liquid that thickly coated it; he looked to the guard in the tower next to the one he had exited with a concentrated squint of his eyes and a raise of the now clean blade.

The young assassin timed his throw perfectly at the back of the man's head so the unsuspecting guard would hit the wall rather than fall to the ground to detract the noise as much as possible. The plan worked, leaving the new corpse leaning against the wall. The sound of the heavy rain drowned out any overly obvious noise.

He left the other sentry towers be, only needing those two opened if he needed to make a quick exit with no obstructions. The hooded boy moved around the tents swiftly, avoiding sight of the occasional drunk bandit.

After around five minutes of searching, he found the tent he wanted, or rather the occupant of the tent. The signs of a VIP inside were blatant with two large men armed with swords guarding the entrance. The tent was also quite a bit larger than the surrounding tents.

He quickly ran through some handseals and closed his eyes in concentration. Genjutsu wasn't his strong suit, but he was efficient enough to entrap two men who didn't even know how to sense chakra. After a second of waiting the men's eyes glazed over. With that done, he simply walked in, the guards not even registering his presence. Undoing the flap and walking through, he finally saw the person he went to all this trouble for.

A rather lanky man with greying hair sat at his desk, writing on a piece of paper with some ink and a brush. It looked as if the man hadn't done anything physically exerting in years, he probably hadn't if the description of how he lived was correct. This was not a nice man, just a step down from that slime ball Gatou.

Slavery was this guy's main source of income. And apparently it paid well. Not that any of it mattered to black-attired boy.

The tall man heard the footsteps of the boy but kept his head down as he wrote.

"You got here quicker than expected." The man grunted, "Are the prisoners still misbehaving?" Silence met his question. The man lifted his head with a scowl, "When I ask a-" he stopped mid sentence as he took in the sight of a person he wasn't expecting with with a not so intimidating figure, standing at only the height of a young child.

Yet those eyes that met his unflinchingly were truly terrifying.

"Guards!" To the man's surprise they didn't come running in to restrain the frightful boy in front of him, instead the strange individual just kept moving forward slowly with a kunai in hand. Getting out of his seat quickly and taking a few steps back he tried again, "Guards!" to no avail.

The cloaked figure seemed to get bored of the man's tiresome behavior and moved in, stabbing the man in the chest far too fast for him to react. The man tried to get a scream out of his lungs as the life left his eyes, but all that he managed to grate out were a few chokes before his heart stopped beating.

The man dropped to the ground with an unceremonious crash, leaving the blue-eyed figure to inspect his handy work. After a few moments of staring he departed, his eyes returning to normal.

XXXXXXX

Another figure blended in with the darkness perfectly just outside of the camp, watching the boy depart. The silhouetted figure inclined his head to the encampment that was now a swarm of activity, noticing their boss' death far too late to even hope to catch the culprit.

The figure adjusted his porcelain mask and spared another glance at the boy before disappearing in a flurry of leaves.

XXXXXXX

"Too easy." The boy undid his hood, revealing his spiky blonde hair to the world, dampening again in the heavy downpour. His face now unobscured showed off a scowl that didn't belong on a face that young. "Far too easy."

Naruto Uzumaki was not happy. His test fell flat. He completed the kill in no more than five minutes, hardly an exercise. He wanted to work more on his stealth, but bandits just weren't enough anymore.

He didn't bother running; he was far enough from the camp for it not to make a difference. These weren't experienced hunter nins, they were just thugs looking for a paycheck. They probably had dogs for tracking but the rain got rid of any scent that he might carry, and they definitely didn't have anyone in their midst that could accurately track him down in the night.

His face morphed into one of boredom as he took to the trees, one useful thing the academy taught him. Not that they stressed the importance of it too much. Regulating one's chakra for quick movement was less useful than history according to the academy.

Naruto abandoned any conceptions that the academy would teach him how to be a true ninja long ago. Though a well-timed kawirimi, a well-placed bunshin, and a good henge could potentially save your life, you needed more to survive than those parlour tricks. A lot more.

As it was, any civilian fresh out of the academy deserved praise if they made it past the first few months. The clan kids had a ridiculously higher chance to survive compared to the kids who didn't have access to clan techniques or have ninja relatives.

Except for Naruto.

Through an incredible work ethic and small acts of domestic espionage, he could say without a doubt that he was the strongest in his graduating class.

He hadn't seen any of the older genin to compare himself to, but he would probably rank up pretty well. He had heard stories of the notorious Hyuuga Neji, and wondered how a fight with the genius would turn out.

He shook his head to get on another train of thought, the genin exams tomorrow. Truthfully, he could have passed years ago, but the old man held him back. He didn't hold any grudge against the man, understanding why he had done it. Sarutobi wanted to salvage what little of a childhood he had left.

A nice thought, Naruto supposed, but flawed, seeing as how he had just taken three lives without a second thought, simply to test his skills. Though being held back was irritating, he did have time to learn the techniques from the ninja archive of the library, even if he did have to steal from the jutsu scrolls due to him not having proper clearance. The security of the library was shoddy at best.

But being an actual ninja would be refreshing, rather than having to go against the law to get his kick of danger. He supposed that it didn´t really matter who he was going to be on a team with. They were all children in his mind. The only one who had experienced death was the Uchiha, and even then he hadn't taken a life before. He didn't care who his sensei was, he would be fine with anyone that wouldn't outright ignore him.

Seeing the huge gates of Konoha rapidly approach, Naruto had to wonder what his new life would entail as he made to enter without being spotted by the – in his mind – all too lax chuunins on guard duty.

XXXXXXX

The Sandaime sat in his office, pipe in mouth with a grim countenance as he waited. He didn't have to wait for long as an ANBU appeared just as he was about to pack another bowl. He decided to set it aside for later.

"I would like to know your take on this, Tenzo." The aged Hokage spoke.

"It's impressive if nothing else, Hokage-sama." A voice spoke from behind the impassive face of a tiger, staring blankly at the Sandaime Hokage.

"But..." The Hokage pressed.

Shuffling on his feet slightly in the first break of professionalism he had had in years, Tenzo quickly steeled himself.

"It is worrying to say the least, to see that in such a boy. To be able to accomplish such things at that age, it's not unheard of, but due to circumstances I'm sure the council is in an uproar about what to do with the boy." The man said in monotone, as what was expected of an ANBU captain.

Inarguably one of the most powerful and wisest men to ever grace the Elemental Nations sighed as he let his age shine through; deciding that maybe packing another bowl of sweet tobacco wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"The council does not know of this." He turned his intense grey eyes to the man in front of him. "Nor will they." Tenzo nodded in acknowledgement of the unspoken order.

"If you know what the boy is doing why aren't you stopping him, Hokage-sama?" The tiger mask tilted only slightly in inquisition.

"I'm afraid that might do more harm than good. You know of the boy's burden, and how the villagers treat him despite my efforts. He most likely has more pent up rage than anyone in his age group - discounting Uchiha Sasuke - and needs an outlet. If we take that outlet away and leave him with the spiteful villagers and overwhelming potential to harm that he has shown..." The Hokage let that hang in the air. It was all he needed to say really. The prospect wasn't pleasant to think about.

"If you don't mind me asking Hokage-sama, would you say he's... stable?" The ANBU captain asked, the tiniest inflection of his voice ringing in Hiruzen's ears.

The oldest occupant in the room steepled his hands together and rested them on his mouth as his eyes narrowed slightly in thought.

"I will have to get a full psychological evaluation to answer that question completely. However, based on what I have seen and how he interacts, I believe he hasn't been driven off the edge just yet." Slate eyes drew to the slit eyes of the mask involuntarily, "But he is becoming more and more like Orochimaru when he was younger. Distant, arrogant, and seeing his peers and others around him as mere obstacles. The boy has little to no connections inside of these walls."

Tenzo listened to Hiruzen with rapt attention. The Hokage stopped, obviously wanting Tenzo's input. It was rather flattering having quite possibly the wisest man on the planet wanting his thoughts on the matter.

"Well, judging by who he went to take out, perhaps the boy does have more compassion than you think. Going through that much trouble to kill a slaver speaks wonders. But I could imagine him not getting along with his peers at all. Just from seeing him tonight, it is unquestionable the boy's mentality is on another level to what is expected of that age." The man paused a second in thought, "Could the Kyuubi have changed his mental development?"

The Sandaime leaned back in his chair and stroked his goatee slowly.

"I'm unsure if he did it out of the bit of kindness in his heart. I think it was just a challenge for him, a sport really. He has done similar feats in a short duration of time but now I think it's less of the target, and more how well he pulls it off." Sarutobi said with a weary sigh, "As for if I think the Kyuubi has altered his mind in some way, I don't know. I have faith in Minato's seal work; however it could be a possibility. I hear the boy who holds the Ichibi is rather unstable due to his demon, along with other circumstances. Naruto will be watched carefully either way. I want him to make connections with the people around him, and I'll be damned if the Fourth's legacy drowns in his own hatred like my student did. I will not allow that to happen." Hiruzen said resolutely.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Tenzo responded.

"You are dismissed Tenzo. I will call for you if I need anything more." Hiruzen said with a wave of his hand.

The ANBU captain bowed slightly before disappearing as quickly as he came, leaving the aged Kage in silence once again.

The Sandaime turned to look out the window, seeing the lights of his beloved village glitter and shimmer like stars in the night. He heaved a sigh and looked to the head of the Fourth Hokage, only the outline visible in the dark night.

"I won't fail you again, Minato." The man said to himself as he went back to the work set out on his desk.

 **XXXXXXX**

 **A short prologue for what could be my next story.**

 **There will be NO bashing in this story, so sorry to all the people that wanted to watch Naruto totally pwn Sasuke in front of everyone and make him cry while Sakura 'screams like a banshee' from behind. That's not my thing.**

 **The story will probably focus mostly on Naruto's development, changing because of the people around him and the things that he will be forced to face. As you can see, he's REALLY different from cannon. And no, he's not going to be an absolute badass who is incredible at everything and can go toe-to-toe with any of the notably strong characters in the first few chapters (Kakashi, Gai, Orochimaru etc.). But he is going to be a lot smarter and stronger than cannon Naruto, and you'll see how these differences change the story.**

 **To all you beautiful readers out there, leave me a review and tell me what you think.**

 **Peace out**


	2. Chapter 1: Abnormality

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto I would have a lot more zeros in my bank account**

 **Chapter 1: Abnormality**

* * *

 _"In critical moments even the very powerful have need of the weakest" - Aesop_

* * *

Iruka was having a little bit of trouble understanding what he was looking at. Well, he understood it, he just didn't know if he could believe it.

Staring at him were the results of the class' resident jinchuuriki for the genin exam. They just weren't… really expected of an academy student. The kid always seemed a little bit unusual, but Iruka didn't treat him differently, even though it was difficult to see a bold-faced reminder of his parents' death like a kick to the teeth every morning.

Uzumaki Naruto wasn't normal. He couldn't have been, it was almost an instinctual feeling Iruka felt. The kids of the class didn't even attempt to converse with him, instead spreading rumors about his apparently scary attributes.

'That scary kid in Iruka's class can paralyze you just by looking into your eyes', and 'You know that creepy blonde guy? I heard he killed his own parents when he was younger.' Were just a few of the inane rumors that Iruka heard being spread around. Needless to say it didn't do the blonde's social life any favors. Kids believed some crazy things after all.

In the time that Naruto had been in his class he didn't really do much of anything. Looked slightly interested at some points, irritated others and just looked plain bored most of the time. Without him taking a past test before, Iruka really didn't expect the boy to do this well, or any students to period.

The taijutsu he displayed was brutally efficient, showing a not-so-even fight between him and a civilian boy who looked scared out of his wits just from being in the presence of the boy. Kunai and shuriken throwing hit the 100% mark, he blazed through the speed course the teachers had set up within a minute that was meant to last for 5, and his written test was completed just after Sakura Haruno and Shikamaru Nara, though the latter only wrote down half of the answers that would get him to pass, sleeping through the rest. Now was the test that would pass the genins if done successfully and if they met the pre-requisites.

"Uzumaki Naruto." The man called. Making a note of how the students stopped conversing in favor of watching the enigma going for the final test.

The boy was rather unassuming all things considered. Wearing a plain white t-shirt and some black pants, and standing at the regular height of a 13-year-old boy. Naruto walked down evenly in front of the front desk and waited his dull eyes boring into Iruka's own.

"Perform the **Bunshin no Jutsu ( _Clone Jutsu_ )** please." Nodding, Naruto put his hands into a ram seal.

Without a word, a humble number of three clones flickered into existence. Iruka inspected them and finally gave a nod of approval. Writing the result down, he grabbed a metal head protector from a pile on the table.

"Congratulations on becoming a shinobi of Konoha and graduating this year with the top score. Meet in this room in a week's time for team placements." Iruka said, passing the symbolic headwear to the boy. Naruto grabbed the headpiece and stared at it for several long seconds before turning to leave.

"Thanks." His dull voice rang out. That was more than Iruka was expecting to hear from the boy. He looked at the blonde's retreating back before turning his eyes back down to the list in his hand.

"Yamanaka Ino."

XXXXXXX

The metal of the headband glinted as Naruto held it over his head, the orange rays of the afternoon sun bouncing off of it. He stared at it for the longest time, before finally setting his arms down and scowling at something no one could see.

"Tch." Naruto sat up to look at the descending sun setting over the horizon, bathing the village in it's ethereal brilliance. A panoramic dream that Naruto could never get over. Sitting on the head of the Shodaime, he let his mind wander.

This was all he really had to keep him company growing up. The strong breeze flapping his hair around and the gorgeousness of the village was the only comfort he had ever felt. While other kids played, Naruto contemplated. With the ungodly amount of time he had as a child, and the glares and hateful dismissals of the villagers being his only interactions with people it was difficult to not become a little jaded, even as a boy not even in his teen years.

His understanding of the situation didn't dampen his hatred for the villagers very much at all. The things that they could do to a young boy due to their own ignorance, it was truly disgusting. He wouldn't wish the life that he lived on anyone.

As a child it bothered him much more then it did now. When he was younger, he didn't know the reason behind it all. The stares, the unprovoked aggression, the way he had a five meter berth at any given place in town... the loneliness. All because of the accursed creature inside his gut.

 **"Who are you calling accursed, incessant bug?"** A deep, rumbling voice growled in the recesses of his mind.

Yes, the damned thing talked to him. Apparently even the Fourth Hokage's seal work wouldn't work well enough to keep the damnable thing out of his head. He interacted with the beast as little as possible, but...

The blonde felt his frown deepen as his thoughts grew increasingly darker. He forced himself to focus on the beautiful scenery of the village. Even from the height Naruto was at he could see the streets begin to thin out as it grew darker, the stars beginning to appear overhead in the darkening sky.

He sighed. He was probably going to be out here a while. He didn't have anyone he could talk to about his recent promotion after all. Or anyone to talk to period. He lied back down on the hard stone and looked up to the dark ocean that hovered over him. His eyes drooped slightly as he allowed his body to relax. It still ached from the hours of training he did prior.

 _"A new team huh?"_ His clouded mind wondered, _"What a waste of time."_ His eyes finally closed fully as he let darkness take him into it`s comforting arms.

XXXXXXX

Naruto sat at his table, looking around at all of the potential teammates he could get and was thoroughly underwhelmed. It had been a day since that excuse for a test and Naruto hadn't felt as liberated as he thought he would. The genin title had no real impact when he couldn't talk to anyone about it, or the fact that it was a meager brag at best. Looking around at all of his 'peers' just made him feel worse.

The pink-haired girl and the blonde were bickering over who would sit next to the Uchiha. After looking back he could see the Sasuke staring at him, not even pretending to pay attention to the girls next to him who were almost begging for his attention. He turned to look around the class some more, choosing to ignore the raven-haired boy for now.

The Nara was asleep as usual, with the Akimichi boy eating chips next to him. Inuzuka Kiba was loudly talking about how awesome he was to the rotund boy snacking away. The Aburame boy with glasses silently sat with a number of insects buzzing around him. The Hyuuga girl – Hinata if he recalled – was quietly looking around the bustling environment around her silently, almost timidly.

All of the future clan heads in one room.

Iruka finally stepped through the door, with Mizuki surprisingly not in tow and made to calm everyone down. It didn't take long for the talking to subside.

"Okay everyone. You're all here as fully fledged shinobi and kunoichi of the great nation of Konoha. Through history, ninjas have-" And like that the man lost him. Naruto drowned out the monotonous speech that left the teacher's mouth. After a few minutes of a surprisingly passionate speech for someone who had to have said all of this in previous years he started to call out the teams.

"Team 7: Akimichi Chouji, Uchiha Sasuke, and Yamanaka Ino."

"Ha! Take that Forehead!" Ino said, proceeding to gush her victory over her long-term rival with Sakura looking like she was beyond consolation. Sasuke couldn't hide his grimace from the tone that Ino was using. This wasn't going to be fun for the last Uchiha. Iruka let out a sigh and continued.

"Team 8: "Haruno Sakura, Nara Shikamaru, and Uzumaki Naruto."

Once Iruka started listing again Naruto's eyes narrowed over to the civilian girl – Haruno he corrected himself – who's face turned from one of depression over not being on her crush's team to uncertainty as she too looked at him. She averted her eyes as soon as their gazes' met. He decided to inspect the Nara again and wasn't surprised to see him snoozing on his desk.

He sighed.

" _This is going to be fun."_

After 15 minutes of waiting and another drawn out speech, most of the teams had filed out of the room with their new senseis. Staring at the door, Naruto managed to see the black hair and ruby eyes of an absolutely stunning woman.

She had dark, wavy locks that rested around her shoulders. She was wearing a wrapping-like garb with several articles of crimson that matched her beautiful ruby eyes, and creamy skin that was absolutely flawless.

"Team 8, meet at training ground 12 now." The woman's angelic voice said in a business-like tone. There was a second lag time before all the members of the newly created team 8 stood up and walked over to the exit. They all fell into step outside of the academy with the gorgeous woman, none of the students wishing to speak on the short walk there for varying reasons; laziness, trepidation, and apathy respectfully.

A few minutes' walk saw them to their destination, a medium-sized clearing with a small forest on the outskirts. Grass and leaves swayed lightly in the light breeze.

Walking into the middle of the hospitable patch of land, Kurenai turned to her new team again, eyeing each of them. Her gaze rested on her newest blonde subordinate and she had to think back to her recent conversation with the Hokage.

 _Flashback_

 _Kurenai had to keep herself from shuffling slightly under the Third Hokage's hard gaze. She wondered what the man wanted with her. She was pretty low on the food chain when it came to jonin, being initiated into the position not too long ago. Sarutobi eyed her for a second longer before he picked up a folder out of the endless supply he had resting on his desk and held his hand out for the woman. She took it gingerly and opened the cover, reading its contents._

" _This is…"_

" _Your new team, correct. You will be working with these children within a few days." Hiruzen said._

 _Looking through it, she saw the pictures of the half-awake features of one Nara Shikamaru, the tentative smile of Haruno Sakura, and the intensely uninterested face of… Konoha's jinchuuriki. She looked to the neutral features of her leader with an eyebrow raised._

" _The nine-tails… Hokage-sama, shouldn't you hand him to the tutelage of a more experienced jonin?" It wasn't like she had any ill-will towards the boy, it was just that teaching someone with such power inside of him was a bit much to ask of a green jonin._

" _Actually Yuuhi-san, I chose you specifically for the task of training him." She blinked and he pointed back to the folder. She skimmed its contents again and was surprised to see the final results of the blonde boy. A jinchuuriki rookie of the year was rare… probably. It had to be with only nine existing in the entire world._

" _I don't understand, Hokage-sama." She said, confusion leaking into her voice._

" _His surprising results is exactly why you are perfect for teaching him." Seeing her still confused features he continued, "The boy doesn't need a teacher to bring out his potential for him, he can and will do it on his own. The reason I picked you was not to make him into a deadly weapon, it is to take the deadliness away. In a word, he is a hazard. Potential isn't always a good thing Yuuhi-san." He spoke from experience, "You are to become close with him, survey his mental development and try to dull his fangs, so to speak. "_

 _Kurenai listened to him with slowly widening eyes. So basically, she had to deal with a jinchuuriki that could be a threat to the village if his potential was met and she had to mother him. Fantastic._

" _The others will most likely defer to his leadership in time. He could either be a strong leader, or a ruthless killer, it is your job to make sure the better outcome will be met, am I understood?" It took her a second, but Kurenai finally nodded, unwilling to go against her vehement leader's strict orders._

" _Of course, Hokage-sama."_

 _Flashback End_

Looking back, it probably wasn't the wisest thing accepting. Just from looking at the… boy, she knew that she had a lot of work ahead of her.

Being a genjutsu specialist – one of the most prominent in the village – her knowledge on psychology came in handy in this instance. She could make out signs of mental instability from looking at his subtle glances, his body language towards her stare, the light signs of a defensive stance, his fingers twitching to a weapon that wasn't there etc. The boy didn't trust her, or his newly instated teammates, not one bit.

Her face strained into the most natural-looking smile she could conjure.

"I am Yuuhi Kurenai, and I am going to be your sensei from now on." She said, sitting down and keeping her smile in place that got slightly more natural as she thought about how she would mold her first real team. She beckoned them to do the same.

Shikamaru dropped to the ground like a life-line and kept his tired eyes on the woman. The lone kunoichi of the three sat cross-legged, looking attentively to her newest role model and Naruto kept standing, his arms crossed. Kurenai couldn't hide her frown as she continued.

"Tell me about yourselves. Your names, what you like, what you hate, hobbies and dream for the future. I'll start. I like my down-time and a good book, I hate perverts and people who see kunoichis as inferior to male shinobis, my hobbies are writing and gardening, my dream for the future is to show that genjutsu can rival both taijutsu and ninjutsu in the shinobi arts." She looked expectantly at them for someone to pick up the slack. Sakura decided to be the one.

"Um, my name is Sakura Haruno, I like…" She blushed, "Someone special. I dislike Ino-pig! And uh, studying and reading would be my hobbies. My dream is…" Her blush came back full force and she giggled.

Kurenai's frown intensified. This was the kunoichi of the year? She would have to work on the girl's priorities. Looking expectantly to the Nara boy took around five seconds to work as the boy in question groaned and lied down, looking at the clouds overhead.

"Troublesome. Shikamaru Nara, sleeping, troublesome women, looking at the clouds and finding a way to get my mum off my back." Having said his part, he resumed focus on the clouds floating lethargically overhead.

Kurenai sighed at the accuracy of the reports. It was difficult to describe his laziness in words.

 _"Over to the last of the trio then."_ She thought. Naruto stood staring at Kurenai for some long, drawn-out seconds, making her worried that he wouldn't say anything. After a while longer the blonde scowled and proceeded.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like learning jutsu and new ways to take the lives of others. I dislike worthless people and the people who populate this god forsaken village, who are coincidentally worthless as well. My dream is to see the look on the people of this village's faces when they realize that they are the ones who caused their downfall." He growled.

His proclamations got him a shocked look from Sakura and an uneasy glance from Shikamaru. Kurenai looked on in worry but held her tongue. This was expected. Bitterness towards those around him and a drive for vengeance for those who have belittled him, two things that were never a good mix. Ever.

"Well then, it's nice to meet you all." She said with a smile, banishing any of the tension that had settled. "Now first off, I'd like to tell you that none of you are genin yet."

"W-what do you mean, sensei? We already passed the genin test." Sakura pointed out. Kurenai shook her head.

"For you to become genin you're going to have to pass my test first. If you fail to complete it you will all be sent back to the academy for further studying." Their eyes all widened.

"A test to weed out anyone that didn't stand a chance in the first place." Shikamaru's groaned. Naruto's eyes narrowed, realizing the logic.

" _Of course, I should have known."_ He could have slapped himself for not figuring that out sooner, he basically had to get spoon fed the information. Kurenai nodded her head at the Nara's observation.

"You're correct, Shikamaru-kun. We will begin the test when I say go. You will all have 30 minutes to touch me once. If one of you touch me, you all pass." They blinked and she gave them a smile, settling into a ready position, "It will be more difficult than it sounds." She clutched at the wrappings on her arm, "Ready, g-!"

Before she could get the last word out, Naruto was already right in front of her. He snapped his arm out quickly to touch her only for his arm to pass through with absolutely no resistance.

" _Genjutsu?"_ He thought in alarm. When did she have time to cast it over them mid conversation, he kept an eye on her the entire time and there was _no way_ she could have made hand signs. A genjutsu that intricate would definitely need handsigns – no matter how good they were at the obscure art. Which meant… it was a genjutsu the entire time. _"Impressive."_

Her transparent form finally evaporated from reality, leaving no sound other than the breeze rustling the leaves. Without a second thought Naruto rocketed into the tree line, not even acknowledging his brand new teammates.

Silence settled over the two remaining genin, staying right where they were. After a few seconds Sakura turned to her shadow-controlling teammate.

"So, do you want to go help or…?" She ventured.

"Nope." He said as he stalked over to a shaded area under one of the many trees surrounding them. Something in his tone irritated her enough for her eye to twitch.

"Well, do you-" She started.

"No." Somehow he seemed even less invested in their little chat than before as he sat down. A tick mark formed on her head.

 _ **"Why do I have to deal with this useless slacker while Ino-pig gets Sasuke-kun!? Shannaro!"**_ Inner-Sakura piped in.

"Why don't you-!"

"Ugh, you're worse than my mum." Shikamaru cut in, scratching his ear disinterestedly. She was more than a little indignant at the tactless comment, "If you want to go help crazy over there, be my guest. He seemed like such a fan of teamwork and comradery after all." He deadpanned.

She bit her lip. He had a point. Their other teammate didn't exactly seem like a bundle of hugs and kisses when he introduced himself. The fact that he even beat Sasuke-kun for the spot of rookie of the year just made him more frightening. What could she do to help a person who so obviously outclassed her?

"Yuuhi-sensei _did_ say only one person had to touch her for the win…" Sakura admitted to herself uncertainly. She looked over to Shikamaru to see him already sound asleep leaning on the tree. She bristled.

XXXXXXX

"How hard can it be to touch someone?" Naruto all but screamed after smashing into another tree. The woman's prestige in the art of genjutsu proved to be more than a little irritating as he couldn't go ten steps without smashing into a tree that he didn't know was there or thinking that he finally caught her only for her to vanish with a trap in her place.

He stopped on one of the branches and let out a deep breath. He had to think this through. Of course she wouldn't just appear in front of him. She would most likely have herself cloaked in another genjutsu. And he couldn't just run blindly along or he would never catch her in time with all of these damn trees in the way. She was probably laughing at him right now.

Putting his hands in a ram seal, he channeled his energy through his body and finally let it burst outwards. The thick chakra bounced off of invisible walls of air, a sign that a genjutsu was placed in those spots. Reaching into his hidden back pocket where some of his kunai were stored, he let them fly towards the wraiths of chakra interlaced with air. Resounding thuds cracking the bark of trees that couldn't be seen were heard.

He put his hands back together in a ram seal and sprinted forward. He let his chakra burst forward every few seconds and used that to guide him through the forest. Now that he had the obstacle problem out of the way he just had to locate her.

XXXXXXX

Kurenai had to give the boy credit. He was creative. Not many genin would think of using that method to get around this sort of problem. Granted, it was quite a waste of chakra, but she doubted that it would slow him down even a little.

She watched from about thirty meters away as he ran around, futilely trying to locate her. Sure, he was good for a genin, maybe even good for a chuunin given his results, but he had no field experience. There's no way he would be able to know what to do in this situation. He would need the brain of someone as adaptable as Shikamaru to realize what he would need to do to find her. Too bad he was too prideful to ask for assistance from either of his teammates.

Perhaps it was a little unfair of her to give them this test, none of them had any great affinity to genjutsu. Sakura _apparently_ had, but she didn't even have one genjutsu under her belt. She also had no clue that she was under a genjutsu at the start, just like her team.

She had to admit she was a little disappointed with the way they were all handling this test. Naruto was somewhat at fault for trying to complete it by himself, but the other two weren't even trying to help out.

Perhaps the Hokage's confidence is Naruto's success had been misplaced, there was only fifteen more minutes on the clock and no sign of him being able to find her. Her eyes narrowed as she saw his hands run through a series of handsigns, before suddenly widening as a wave of scorching chakra fired off in her direction.

XXXXXXX

 **"Katon: Jigoku no hi no Bakufuu! _(Fire Style: Hell's Fire Blast!)_ "** Naruto exclaimed as he shot his hands out to his sides. The sweltering chakra he had stored shot out of the pores of his palms, creating a hurricane of flame that spewed out as he spun, making sure to catch every tree in sight. Stopping as the jutsu tapered off, he shook his hands as he could feel boiling pins and needles shoot up his arms. He still wasn't completely accustomed to the jutsu, learning it from the shinobi archives only a couple of weeks ago.

The once dark forest was suddenly bathed in a natural orange-red glow. He set his hands in a ram seal once again, and blasted pure chakra outwards. The stability of the left over genjutsu wavered significantly after his fiery onslaught. Some patches of fire clung to a tree or rock that didn't seem to be there.

A sudden chakra signal made its way back to his senses and he rushed it. His sensei, now abandoning the cloak as she ran – it being useless now – dashed for a spot out of the blonde's view.

He made sure to capitalize on what was probably his only chance of passing the test. Pouring all of his chakra into his legs until they burned with exertion, he pelted at the surprisingly quick and agile woman through his tunnel vision. Even he was surprised that he was catching up to the jonin. Until she turned around he realized his foolishness.

The woman lit up slightly before finally exploding, the trees around them turning into thousands of splinters that rained down on the burning forest floor.

The real Kurenai appeared a few meters away from where her **Bunshin Daibakuha _(Clone Great Explosion)_** last stood.

" _Perhaps that was a little overkill."_ She worried.

Her brow furrowed as she saw Naruto in the same position he last was, unscathed.

 _"_ A _clone."_ She realized, jumping off of the branch quickly as another Naruto flew past where she was just standing from behind. The Naruto in mid-flight suddenly phased through the trunk of a tree like it wasn't even there.

 _"Another clone!?"_ Her eyes widened in alarm. Twisting her body in midair in a show of insane flexibility, the true Naruto flew right through her legs with his hand outstretched. He flipped hastily and landed on the side of the tree, sticking to it with his chakra.

Kurenai landed on the ground a second after, her hands already flowing rapidly through seals. Naruto didn't even have time to prepare himself for what was coming as roots sprung from the ground and encased his limbs in an unbreakable hold. Squirming just seemed to make the grip the roots had tighter.

Naruto looked ahead as he saw Kurenai stretch her body into his view.

"That was impressive, Naruto-kun. You almost had me with the double-clone trick you pulled before. However your time is almost up, and there are few people who can escape my **Mori no Tojikome _(Forest Entrapment)_** genjustu." She didn't sound arrogant in the slightest, but something about her awareness of her superiority over him irritated Naruto to no end.

He growled low in his throat, his squirming not helping in the slightest. If only he could disrupt the genjutsu without the use of his hands. An idea struck him but he had to fight it back. If anyone knew he had even a minute amount of control over his tenant's chakra, especially someone of jonin rank, there would be hell to pay with the Hokage.

Still, it was either that or lose any hope of becoming a ninja for another year. Another year in this hellhole… he cringed at the thought of it. Being of a shinobi status would enable him to someday run away from this place. He was good, but nowhere near good enough to be able evade the ANBU corps if he attempted to leave. No way would Konoha let its jinchuuriki escape. But if he was under instruction he could gain some power, some experience and of course, a chance to leave the village for months at a time. He would become a missing-nin eventually, and then put this village behind him.

He finally steeled his resolve. Closing his eyes, Naruto scrunched up his face in concentration as he delved into his secondary pool of chakra. Pulling it out, he let the discomfort of having such a chaotic power wash over him. He opened his eyes suddenly to reveal intense red pools with an animalistic slit down the middle.

Kurenai recoiled as she saw the eyes of what she had a healthy fear of, much like the rest of the village. Memories of the frightful beast from all those years ago flooded into her brain and she felt herself freeze under the boy's fierce gaze.

Distortions filled the atmosphere as Naruto tried to undo the powerful genjutsu without using the ram seal, pouring the dangerously unstable chakra out of his body and into the false world in front of him. The world around him gave out after a few seconds of resistance and with a violent tug he was pulled back into reality. He shook off the vertigo that grabbed at his mind gained from the sudden new setting in front of him. Kurenai snapped out of her stupor while Naruto was regaining his bearings.

Had he just used the Kuyuubi's chakra? This was a new development. She had to inform the Hokage as soon as possible. She moved to jump away only to find her feet planted firmly on the ground. In fact, her whole body remained motionless. She heard a yawn from behind her.

"As troublesome as it is, I need to pass this test or my mum's going to kill me." Shikamaru's bored voice barely carried over to her.

She could have cursed for her inattentiveness. She shouldn't have let her guard down. She heard an irritated noise come from Naruto, whose eyes had thankfully gone back to normal.

"I didn't need your help, Nara." He glowered.

"No need to thank me, really." That was the closest she had heard him to sounding annoyed. "Just touch her and let's get out of here." Naruto complied. Walking up to her and touching her arm. Shikamaru let out a sigh of relief as his shadow retracted back to his own, wiping a little sweat off of his forehead.

Kurenai moved around a little to see if she had full control of herself again. After a second she gave them both a dazzling smile.

"You both did excellently." She paused, "Where's Sakura?"

"Here sensei!" She jumped out from the underbrush. "I set up the traps in case you escaped." She said quickly.

"Well, in that case all three of you have done well. Meet at this training ground tomorrow at 6:00 am, sharp. From now on, you're all apart of team 8."

 **XXXXXXX**

 **Aaaand that's a wrap.**

 **Sorry for the HUGE wait, but it won't be happening again, probably. The reason for me not updating for so long is because I was in another country for ages and I had to learn a new language as fast as I could, and cutting out English helped immensely.**

 **So what'd you think of it? Good? Bad? Amazing? Dreadful? Let me know with a review.**

 **Until next time.**


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